Bushwhacked
by LobsterLobster
Summary: Rick, Michonne, Carl, Daryl, Glenn and the others have all made it to Terminus. Everyone is expected to submit to questioning before being allowed in. Will they finally find safety? Will Gareth be able to handle the daunting task of interviewing the survivors? (Firefly AU)


Bushwhacked

Summary: Team Prison has made it to Terminus. Will they pass their interviews and be allowed to stay? (This is an AU with no cannibalism, shooting, putting the wrong people in train cars, etc.)

A/N: Before you think I've lost my mind entirely, this is a Firefly AU! If you are a fellow Browncoat, you will understand. Otherwise, I hope you like it anyway. I, for one, am highly amused.

Team Richonne all the way!

…

The survivors from the prison have been reunited and have arrived at Terminus. They were greeted and allowed inside but, until they pass through interrogations, they will not yet be allowed to join the community.

It was certainly risky, Rick knew that, being asked to lay down their weapons with only a promise that they would be allowed to leave if they wanted to, but these days everything was risky.

Rick had agreed to the front-man, Garth's, conditions. The survivors handed over their weapons and allowed themselves to be interviewed, one by one.

Gareth conducted the interviews himself, slowly gathering an oral history of the group; how they came together, what happened at the prison, how they ended up on the road again, how they found their way to Terminus.

….

Michonne sat at the end of a long table across from Gareth in a brightly lit room. It had probably been a conference room for the railroad management, in another time. Now it was worn and a little dingy.

"And do you love him?"

Michonne kept her face unreadable, giving nothing away.

"I don't see how that's relevant," she replied curtly.

Gareth looked up from his clipboard where he had been taking notes.

He frowned, "Well, he is your husband."

"Yes," Michonne supplied.

"You two met through…" Gareth glanced down at his notes, "Andrea?"

"Andrea was looking for a home. I found a husband. Seemed to work out," Michonne explained unhelpfully.

"Andrea was your friend. She died at the hands of this Governor character, correct?" Garret asked. This new group's history was rather convoluted, but he was gradually piecing it together.

Michonne did not favor him with a response.

Moving on, Gareth's eyes fell on another prominent name on his list.

"You fought with Daryl Dixon in the war against the Governor?" he asked.

"Fought with a lot of people in the war," stated Michonne.

"And your husband?" Gareth questioned.

"Fight with him sometimes too," said Michonne.

"Is there any particular reason you don't wish to discuss your marriage?" Gareth continued, undeterred.

"Don't see that it's any of your business, is all. We're very private people," Michonne glared across the table.

….

Rick leaned back in his chair. He had initially been wary of Terminus, Gareth, the interviews, all of it, but as the day wore on his attitude had changed. He felt confident.

After everything that he and his family had been through, Rick was confident that he could handle anything that came his way. So what if the young guy wanted to sit in a conference room and ask him questions? What would it hurt to answer?

Rick hardly cared what the question was, he would answer it truthfully.

And so Rick found himself comfortably telling Gareth an abridged version of his life story, the recent parts at least.

"The legs. Oh yeah, definitely have to say it was her legs," Rick motioned to Gareth's notepad, "You can put that down."

He continued, gesturing expressively, "Her legs, and where her legs meet her back. Actually, that whole area. That, and above it."

Rick seemed quite distracted.

"Have you seen what she wears?" he asked rhetorically, saying appreciatively, "Forget about it."

Gareth stared back at Rick, not quite sure what to think at this point. His interview was getting way off focus.

"Have you ever been with a warrior woman?" Rick asked Gareth as if he was a new friend that he'd met in a bar.

Gareth glanced down at his notes, which mentioned the prison and the boy, Carl, but about two thirds of this interview had been centered on Michonne; her flawless beauty, how she could dispatch walkers with her katana without even breaking a sweat, how great she was with the kid, it went on and on.

To hear Rick tell it, it was as if she was a superhero and a fairytale princess all rolled into one, instead of an aloof, uncooperative, glaring woman.

Gareth shook his head. He let Rick carry on for a while longer about his favorite topic before ending the interview in exasperation and calling in the next person.

…

Gareth straightened his papers, re-clipped them to the clipboard.

After a one-word confirmation that yes, he did indeed answer to the name of Daryl Dixon, the man across from him had refused to utter another syllable.

Gareth had already tried several questions, but the silence only dragged on.

The impenetrable scowl never left the redneck's face.

The archer hated being at a disadvantage. Gareth's people had taken his crossbow and his hunting knife. Nothing he could do about that, it was Rick's call, but he still resented Gareth for it.

Right now, Gareth was everything that Daryl hated from the world before. What gave this guy the right to ask Daryl questions, as if he knew anything about his life, his past? It felt like every time that he'd been called in to the guidance counselor's office in grade school, some condescending prick already assuming that Daryl had done something wrong.

As Daryl saw it, this punk Gareth was self-important and more than a little pretentious, talking as if he ran the show. And now this bureaucratic nonsense about entrance interviews?

No. Daryl was having none of it. Gareth could sit there and awkwardly tap is pencil on the table all week if he liked.

Daryl leaned back from the table a little bit. He crossed his arms over his chest. He continued to glare at Gareth from behind his long, dirty hair.

…

Gareth sighed. He had been given this task because he was patient, thorough, and persistent. But seriously, what was with these people?

"What is so great about some dirty old prison, anyway? Living like animals in a cage? No, thank you."

"A cage?!" Glenn was greatly offended at Gareth's insinuations.

"Try living holed up in a gas station bathroom with nine other people for over a week in the dead of winter while a herd of walkers wandered around outside, now that's living in a dirty cage!"

Glenn leaned forward, staring into Gareth's eyes, willing him to understand, "The prison was home…It was hope."

…..

They all took a break for dinner. It was getting late and Gareth was exhausted.

"How's it going?" Mary asked when she brought Gareth something to eat.

Gareth sighed, defeated. He started to eat without looking up.

"I couldn't say…"

….

The End!

A/N: The dialog is, more or less, straight from the Firefly episode "Bushwhacked". I know Rick is more like Mal, but I think it would be wonderful/hilarious to have some adorable Wash/Zoe scenes for Team Richonne!

P.S. I'm working on the next chapter for my story Reunion! Don't give up on me! Everything's shiny, Captain, not to fret!


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